Unable to play mkv on Sony BDP S390 Without Transcoding

[wewilli1]

I recently installed Mezzmo and I'm in the process of evaluating the software for purchase. I have a Sony BDP S390 and am unable to play .mkv files without transcoding. I verified the S390 will play mkv files running Serviio with a generic profile and transcoding disabled. In Mezzmo, I tried all the Sony BDP profile options and none would allow streaming mkv files. Some of the profiles allowed the S390 to see the mkv files but when I tried playing them the S390 said the files were corrupt. Since the S390 is perfectly capable of playing the files direct, it's a complete wast of disk space and CPU cycles to transcode the files while playing them.

Is there any way of playing the mkv files without transcoding? I saw a similar post on this exact issue from Jan 2012 but the post was for a different Sony BDP and a final answer was never given.

[Paul]

Please post the FFmpeg information on the MKV file. To do this, right-click on the file in Mezzmo and click 'Get FFmpeg Information'. Once we get this, we can tell you the most appropriate device profile.

One workaround for the moment is to turn off transcoding so that your MKVs will be streamed natively to your Sony BDP. To try this, go to the Media Devices dialog in Mezzmo and edit your Sony BDP device. Go to the Transcoding tab and turn off the transcoding checkbox. Now all your files will be streamed without any transcoding to your Sony BDP.

[wewilli1]

As stated in my previous post above, if I disable transcoding in Mezzmo, the BDP S390 is unable to play the mkv file. The same mkv files play just fine with no transcoding in a competing DLNA server: Serviio. If I disable transcoding in Serviio, the exact same mkv files play just fine. Here is the ffmpeg data you requested:


ffmpeg version N-40693-gc457a29 Copyright (c) 2000-2012 the FFmpeg developers
built on May 15 2012 12:57:14 with gcc 4.6.2
configuration: --enable-memalign-hack --arch=x86 --target-os=mingw32 --cross-prefix=i686-w64-mingw32- --enable-static --disable-shared --enable-zlib --disable-postproc --prefix=/home/peter/ffmpeg/build/gpl --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libx264 --enable-gpl --extra-libs='-lx264 -lpthread' --enable-runtime-cpudetect --extra-cflags=-I/home/peter/cc/include --extra-ldflags=-L/home/peter/cc/lib --pkg-config=pkg-config --disable-w32threads
libavutil 51. 51.100 / 51. 51.100
libavcodec 54. 21.101 / 54. 21.101
libavformat 54. 5.100 / 54. 5.100
libavdevice 53. 4.100 / 53. 4.100
libavfilter 2. 73.100 / 2. 73.100
libswscale 2. 1.100 / 2. 1.100
libswresample 0. 11.100 / 0. 11.100
Input #0, matroska,webm, from 'Z:\raid\Video\Master Library\TV Shows\Dexter\Season 6\Dexter.S06E01.Those.Kinds.of.Things.REPACK.720p. HDTV.x264-IMMERSE.mkv':
Duration: 00:52:36.98, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 4071 kb/s
Stream #0:0(eng): Video: h264 (High), yuv420p, 1280x720, SAR 1:1 DAR 16:9, 23.98 fps, 23.98 tbr, 1k tbn, 47.95 tbc (default)
Stream #0:1(eng): Audio: ac3, 48000 Hz, 5.1(side), s16, 384 kb/s (default)
At least one output file must be specified


---> DB Level Info: 41, 100
---> Frame rate: 23.98
---> Aspect ratio: 16:9

[Paul]

Thanks for the additional information. Try this: Please stop your Mezzmo server. Go to the Media Devices dialog and delete all your devices. Start your Mezzmo server again. Your Sony BDP should be re-listed in the Media Devices dialog. Set the device profile for it to "Sony BDP (PAL/NTSC, MKV, No DivX)" and try streaming the MKV file.

If it transcodes (go to the Transcoding pane to see this), then stop your Mezzmo server. Please turn on logging (see http://forum.conceiva.com/showthread.php/419-FAQ-How-to-turn-on-diagnostic-logging) and restart your Mezzmo server. Try streaming the file again, and once it begins transcoding again, stop your Mezzmo server and exit Mezzmo. Zip up the logs and send them to us at support [at] conceiva [dot] com.

[wewilli1]

I sent an email with the requested information above but never received a reply from your tech support department. It turns out I misspoke above. I am unable to play any .mkv file on the Sony BDP-S390 with transcoding enabled or with transcoding disabled. I get an error message from the S390 that says the file is corrupt. Mezzmo simply does not play mkv files to the S390 correctly. I can play the same files with Serviio with no problem.

[Paul]

Sorry for not getting back to you earlier. Looking at your logs, Mezzmo is delivering the MKV file to your S390, but your S390 rejects it immediately. This may suggest that your S390 cannot play MKV files. As a test, please change the device profile to 'Sony BDP (NTSC, No DivX)'. This will transcode your MKV files to MPEG-TS. Try streaming a MKV file now. When streaming the MKV file, go back to Mezzmo and check the Transcoding pane to see the transcoding status of the MKV. If the MKV failed to play on your S390, then wait until the transcoding has completed and then try to stream the file again. This time Mezzmo will stream the completed transcoded file.

If no success, then please send us a new set of logs so we can see what your S390 is requesting from Mezzmo server.

[wewilli1]

It turns out Twonky also successfully plays mkv files to the BDP-S390.

[wewilli1]

Greetings Paul:
I'm not sure why you don't believe me but the Sony S390 is capable of playing an mkv file with h264 video encoding. The specifications for this device clearly state that it is capable of playing video in this format - you can look it up on the Sony web site if you don't believe me. Furthermore, I successfully played the same media file using 2 different media servers: Twonky and Serviio. Note that the default install of Twonky is not capable of transcoding so it has to be streaming the file natively. In testing Serviio, I specifically disabled all transcoding before streaming the file. Your post above suggests that you believe the problem is caused by the fact that the S390 can't play mkv files and there is no problem with Mezzmo. I disagree because the data that I collected proves otherwise.

If I select the 'Sony BDP (NTSC)' device profile and enable transcoding, the file does play but it appears that the file is being transcoded. I checked the transcoding output directory and found a large video file there; I opened the video file with VLC media player and it was the same file I was trying to stream. This test shows that Mezzmo can play the file but it has to transcode the file to successfully stream without errors. If I disable transcoding, the file will not stream successfully.

I would like to re-post my original question. Why can't Mezzmo stream an mkv file with h264 encoding to the S390 without transcoding? It's a complete waste of disk space and CPU cycles to transcode files that don't need transcoding.

I am currently evaluating DLNA software for purchase. Mezzmo does everything I want except it won't stream mkv files with h264 encoding without transcoding. Perhaps it's a simple case that the Mezzmo software doesn't know that the S390 is capable of accepting h264 encoded mkv files. If I disable transcoding, the Mezzmo software does not present any playable files to the S390. When I navigate to a directory which contains mkv files, Mezzmo report that there are no playable files. I think if mezzmo just reported all the mkv files as playable (like it does for mpg files), it would work fine. Is there a way to modify the Sony Bluray profile so that Mezzmo will stop transcoding the mkv files? If there is a fix for this problem, I will purchase the software. I wouldn't have spent so much time looking into this issue if I didn't like your software. Please help me fix this problem so I can purchase your software.

[Paul]

Thanks for your detailed explanation. Sorry it's not that I don't believe you - it's just how your device has been responding thus far :o However, based on your excellent explanation & testing, we think we may know the reason. Please contact us at support [at] conceiva [dot] com for an updated device profile to try.

[wewilli1]

Greetings:
I did send an email to support [at] conceiva [dot] com and requested the new device profile. I will test the profile and post my results.

[Paul]

Thanks - got your email & will send you the device profile to try shortly.

[wewilli1]

Greetings Paul:

Thanks for providing the updated profile and trying to help me - I do appreciate it. Unfortunately, the new profile did not help. When I use the new profile with transcoding enabled or disabled, the S390 says there is no playable media when I navigate to a directory with mkv files encoded with the h264 codec.

No further action is required. I purchased the Twonky server today because it is 100% compatible with the Sony BDP-S390 and proved to be the best software for my situation. I tested several DLNA servers in parallel with the Mezzmo server over a 3 week period. I tested TVersity, Twonky, Mezzmo, Nero, Serviio, Wild Media Server, Play On, Plex, and the PS3 Media Server. The only packages which were fully compatible with the S390 were Nero, Twonky, Serviio, Windows Media Player, and the PS3 Media Server. Out of the these packages, Twonky was the overall winner and I purchased it today. I will provide more detailed information about my comparison criteria and why Twonky won the competition on request.

Again, thanks for the help.

[JohnM]

Sorry to hear that. You should make certain that the others are not transcoding. I know that some like windows media player will do it and not let you know. The reason I say that is this http://www.kb.sony.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?cmd=displayKC&externalId=C1017936&fes=true

It is a listing of what works over dlna (for Brazil, Canada and the US). If you are in other regions it may or may not be different. In the US we are limited to mpeg2 with ac3 audio. :mad:

[Paul]

...Again, thanks for the help.

Thanks for reporting back & letting us know. I am sure we could have got you up and running with a little more effort, but I understand your decision. Hope you enjoy your streaming in your home & I hope you might re-visit Mezzmo again one day :)

[shukerr]

Paul,

Thanks for trying to help Wewili1.
I've posted a few threads about the mezzmo support of the Sony BDP Players.

I've owned a Sony BDP-S370, BDP-S480 & BDP-S590.
One example is my M4A audio files that contain AAC 2 channel audio.
For years I believed that the Sony players could not handle this format via DLNA and Mezzmo has had to transcode for me to listen. However, you lose the tags and the fast forward/rewind is not great.
If I switch transcoding off in Mezzmo then the Sony players report the file as corrupt/not available.

I've just discovered that Serviio plays these same M4A audio files to the Sony players with serviio transcoding disabled and no problems at all.
The sony player shows them as M4A files containing AAC audio and plays them complete with tags etc over DLNA.

I love the Mezzmo interface which is certainly superior to Serviio, but my slower computer and lack of disk space means I really do not want to have to transcode when other DLNA servers deliver the files without transcoding.
I've also confirmed this same behaviour for some MKV files that play via Serviio, but not Mezzmo with transcoding switched off in both products.

I hope we can get to the bottom of this together and help continue the development of the great product that Mezzmo is!

[wewilli1]

This is in response to John M. I generally agree with what you are saying about the fact that the S390 might not be compatible with mkv. I did a lot of research on this and it turns out that there is conflicting information. The marketing literature at the following link states that the S390 is compatible with mkv via DLNA:

http://store.sony.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&partNumber=BDPS390#specifications

However, the owner's manual has a note that states that the S390 is not capable of playing mkv via DLNA. Obviously, both statements can not be correct. I am running Twonky Special version 7.0.7 for Windows. It's my understanding that this version of Twonky is not capable of transcoding. Furthermore, I specifically disabled transcoding with Serviio and streamed mkv files with no problem. Same thing with Nero, I disabled ALL transcoding and streamed mkv just fine. Lastly, I am getting pretty good with the PS3 Media Server. I streamed mkv files to the S390 using the PS3 media server and it's my opinion that it was not transcoding.

The body of evidence I collected on this issue suggests that the marketing literature is correct and the S390 is capable of decoding an mkv file. If anyone has evidence or data that disagrees with my data, please speak up so we can discuss and get to the bottom of this mystery.

[Paul]

Thanks for all your helpful feedback. We'll fix these issues as a priority, and contact you directly if we need logs, etc. to help us diagnose the problems. I'll respond back here after we have fixed the issues.

[JohnM]

Cool thanks wewilli1. That info I posted is from the esupport folks at Sony. I have beaten them up severely about their limited support. What I think is happening is this:
Sony wanted to inhibit the use of DLNA because their lawyers told them it was a bad idea. It would promote "piracy" (even though if you look at the numbers the most often downloaded movies tend to be the most successful).
The player obviously already has the codecs to view these formats because they are on the disk. So Sony told the engineers to disable the function. They simply look at the offered files by the dlna server and reject those "not supported". Mezzmo properly takes their word for it and you get the "no supported file" message. I think that the other servers are telling the device that it is in format m2ts/ac3 so the Sony BDP say OK I'll take that one. They then just send the mkv file across and the Sony displays it.
That is all just a guess on my part they could also be re-muxing the file. It would take some checking to make certain. Maybe I will give that an attempt.

[Paul]

Some good news - we think we have found and fixed the problem in Mezzmo with regards streaming to Sony BDP players (with transcoding turned on or off). This should fix the MKV and M4A problems described by users in this thread. We will contact each of you via email with a patch for you to try and give us feedback. If it works well, then we'll provide a minor update release for all Mezzmo users.

[wewilli1]

Please let me know when you have something for me to try. I will buy Mezzmo if you implement a fix to make .mkv files compatible with the S390.

[Paul]

Please let me know when you have something for me to try. I will buy Mezzmo if you implement a fix to make .mkv files compatible with the S390.

Thanks for helping us test this - we'll send you an email shortly.

[shukerr]

Hi Paul,

That's great news that you've hopefully found a fix for these Sony players.
I'll happily test a patch when it's ready.

[Paul]

Just as update - Mezzmo v2.6.4 has been released and it contains improved support for Sony Blu-ray players, SMP media players and HT home theaters systems. This includes support for streaming Matroska (MKV) files. We recommend using the new 'Sony BDP, HT, SMP' device profile.